Restoring Your Day in Court to Prosecute Nursing Home Abuse
UPDATE - January 2017: The ban on mandatory arbitration agreements has been temporarily blocked. U.S. District Judge Michael Mills, who sits in the Northern District of Mississippi, granted a preliminary injunction, which keeps the rule from being implemented. Martinson & Beason, P.C. will continue to monitor the status of the rule as it makes its way through the court system.
Nursing home patients and their families won a major victory Wednesday when the Department for Medicare and Medicaid Services banned arbitration clauses in nursing home agreements for all nursing homes that receive federal funds. The decision will allow nursing home victims of elder abuse, sexual abuse, wrongful death, and other forms of mistreatment to pursue justice in a court of law, rather than being relegated to secretive arbitration. Admitting a family member into a nursing home is often an extremely stressful time, and families rarely have the chance to negotiate the binding arbitration provision in the admittance contract.
An arbitration agreement is a contractual provision between a consumer and a corporation where the parties agree to settle any potential legal disputes in a private proceeding with limited recourse. In contrast to the regular court system, arbitration settlements are kept confidential and parties do not have the right to appeal. Arbitration also allows a company to keep embarrassing and potentially costly mistakes and practices from being heard by the public. It is a system favored by many corporations that prevents a consumer access to the court system.
Though it may not feel like it, we officially entered fall as of September 21st. With the changing seasons, we wanted to highlight a few ways you can become more energy efficient by adapting to the season. The cooler weather can bring many savings to your utility bill with minimal effort on your part.
Even though it’s still hot outside, now is a good time to begin preparing your house for winter. After all, who wants to winterize when it’s 10 degrees outside? As you begin to switch over to heat, make sure your attic is well insulated to minimize the amount of energy lost through the ceiling. Consider that the builder of your house likely only installed the minimum required amount of insulation. Today’s insulation standards are different than those of yesteryear, and you likely can achieve energy savings by adding more or better insulation.
Next, double check that outside air is not seeping into your house around windows or doors. Cut down on a drafty house by adding weather stripping or caulking around openings. By cutting out drafts in a house, you can achieve savings of 
Having a well-crafted estate plan is an enormous benefit to your family and loved ones. Proper use of estate planning tools can minimize the tax burden to your heirs, while easing the transfer of assets. But what about the matter of your online/social media presence once you pass away?
You might be surprised to learn that Facebook has applied a lot of consideration regarding what can happen to your account once you pass away. In fact, there are a number of ways to utilize your Facebook to preserve your final thoughts and memories. Facebook allows you to designate a “